---
By the time Sange finally escaped the office, the sky had already darkened, city lights flickering to life like stars trapped on earth.
Her arms were aching from the sheer weight of the folders she carried, filled with enough paperwork to make a grown man cry.
"This is cruel," she muttered under her breath, struggling to keep the files from slipping out of her grasp as she pushed through the revolving door of J Corporation's massive building.
Her entire body felt drained. The tension of the day had squeezed every ounce of energy from her soul, leaving her running on fumes and sheer stubbornness.
But the worst part?
This was only the first day.
She let out a long, exhausted sigh as she stepped onto the sidewalk, spotting a familiar figure waving frantically near a streetlight.
"SANGE! OVER HERE!"
Hiraya.
Her best friend practically skipped toward her, a bright grin on her face—one that immediately vanished the second she got a closer look.
"Whoa." Hiraya's eyes widened. "You look like you just fought in a war."
Sange glared at her. "I did. And I lost."
Hiraya gasped dramatically. "No. You were supposed to be the fearless protagonist!"
"Protagonists don't get buried alive in paperwork," Sange grumbled, shifting the files in her arms. "Help me, will you?"
Hiraya giggled but quickly grabbed half of the folders, her eyes scanning over the dense legal text. "Damn. Did they ask you to rewrite the Constitution or something?"
Sange snorted. "Might as well have. Hyun Jae practically threw all of this at me and said, 'Memorize it.'" She lowered her voice into a deep, mockingly cold tone. "Don't waste my time asking questions that are already answered in these documents."
Hiraya burst out laughing so hard she nearly dropped the files. "That was way too accurate. I'm scared."
"You should be. That man was born to be a dictator."
"So… was the tension today just work tension, or was there a little something extra?" Hiraya wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Sange groaned. "Hiraya, please. The only tension I felt today was the physical pain of realizing my boss is my worst enemy. He was practically vibrating with irritation the entire time."
"Vibrating, huh?" Hiraya smirked. "Must be those hidden feelings shaking him up."
Sange gave her a flat stare. "The only thing hidden is my will to live."
They walked in companionable silence for a moment, the sounds of the city filling the air around them. Cars honked. People bustled past, lost in their own worlds. The neon signs of nearby cafés and bars flickered invitingly.
Hiraya nudged her. "Hey. You did it, though."
Sange blinked. "Did what?"
"Survived your first day." Hiraya smiled. "Even with the worst boss ever and the universe working against you, you made it."
Sange let out a small, tired chuckle. "Barely."
"But you did."
She sighed, feeling the weight of the day settle into her bones. "Yeah. I guess I did."
And for a moment, that thought alone made the exhaustion a little more bearable.
But then Hiraya spoke again.
"Now let's get home so you can suffer through reading all this boring paperwork."
Sange groaned.
She really, really hated this job.
---
At Home – The Rant Begins
The second they walked into their small apartment, Sange threw herself onto the couch, letting the files scatter across the coffee table like cursed relics.
"I. Am. Dead."
Hiraya kicked off her shoes and flopped beside her. "Nope. You're undead. A corporate zombie. Welcome to hell."
Sange groaned into a cushion. "Why do people willingly do this to themselves? Every. Single. Day?"
Hiraya shrugged. "Money. Stability. A will to live."
Sange lifted her head slightly. "I have none of those things."
"Exactly." Hiraya snorted. "That's why you're suffering."
Sange sat up, rubbing her temples. "Okay, but seriously, Hiraya, you don't understand. This man—this tyrant—he doesn't speak like a normal person. It's like he was trained in some elite boss academy where they strip you of all human emotions and teach you how to command minions with one cold glare."
Hiraya gasped, eyes twinkling. "What if he's secretly a robot?"
"That would make so much sense," Sange muttered. "No normal human being can be that emotionally unavailable."
"Maybe he's a vampire. That's why he's so pale and brooding."
Sange snapped her fingers. "That's it. He doesn't drink coffee. He drinks the tears of his employees."
Hiraya burst out laughing. "You're terrible."
Sange flopped back onto the couch dramatically. "I had to type up a document, and when I asked if I should use formal legal language, he just gave me this deadpan look and said, 'Do I look like I enjoy reading childish reports?' LIKE, SIR? HOW IS THAT EVEN A RESPONSE?"
Hiraya wiped a tear from her eye. "Okay, but… was he hot while saying it?"
Sange threw a pillow at her. "SHUT UP."
Hiraya dodged it effortlessly. "See? You're avoiding the question. That means yes."
Sange groaned loudly. "WHY AM I FRIENDS WITH YOU?"
Hiraya grinned. "Because I make your miserable life entertaining."
"That is… unfortunately true."
Sange let out a deep sigh, finally looking at the mountain of paperwork in front of her. The sight alone made her soul cry.
"This is actual torture. I am actually being tortured."
Hiraya stretched, already making herself comfortable. "Well, I'm gonna binge some dramas while you suffer. Let me know if you start seeing the afterlife."
Sange threw another pillow.
Hiraya just laughed.
And so, with no choice but to face her fate, Sange reluctantly grabbed the first document and prepared for the longest night of her life.
--